2025 NFL Draft live blog: Jaxson Dart the second QB picked, Shedeur Sanders still on the board

The 2025 NFL Draft started with an expected top choice before seeing a trade in the top-five that has only been seen twice before Thursday.

The Tennessee Titans put the keys to the franchise in the hands of former Miami quarterback Cam Ward, replacing Will Levis, who had a 2-10 record in his 12 games started in 2024.

Ward led the Hurricanes to a 10-3 record in 2024 after transferring from Washington State and beginning his career at FCS Incarnate Word. He led the ACC in passing touchdowns (39) and yards per attempt (9.5) in his lone season at Miami.

Almost immediately after Ward was picked, the Jacksonville Jaguars executed a trade up from No. 5 to No. 2 with the Cleveland Browns in order to draft two-way threat Travis Hunter out of Colorado.

It was only the third trade between two top-five teams while on the clock in draft history, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The other two occurred in 1985 and 2017.

Jacksonville plans to play 2024 Heisman Trophy-winning Hunter at both wide receiver and cornerback, likely with more receiver reps early on, Schefter added. The trade and pick brought Hunter back to his native state of Florida.

The first defender who exclusively plays that side came off the board at No. 3, when the New York Giants took Penn State EDGE Abdul Carter.

Carter was widely considered the top pass rusher in the class with his 12.0 sacks in 2024 (top-five among power conference players), 24 tackles for loss (led the Big Ten) and 68 total tackles.

Experts have compared Carter to fellow former Nittany Lion, Micah Parsons, who was drafted 11th overall after posting 5.0 sacks and 14 tackles for loss in his final collegiate season. Parsons went on to win Defensive Rookie of the Year and has posted at least 12 sacks in each of his four seasons.

2025 NFL Draft after the Top 3 goes Cam Ward, Travis Hunter and Abdul Carter as expected

The New England Patriots sought protection for its franchise quarterback Drake Maye entering his second season by drafting LSU offensive tackle Will Campbell.

At No. 5, the Cleveland Browns paid off their earlier trade by drafting Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham, who was high school teammates with Arizona standout receiver Tetairoa McMillan.

Ashton Jeanty, who was the Heisman runner-up after rushing for 2,601 yards and leading Boise State to the College Football Playoff, came off the board next to the Las Vegas Raiders at No. 6. He joined Bijan Robinson (No. 8 in 2023 to the Atlanta Falcons) as the only running backs taken in the top-10 this decade.

The New York Jets then took the second offensive tackle off the board at No. 7 in Missouri’s Armand Membou to help protect new quarterback Justin Fields.

McMillan found his home with the Carolina Panthers at No. 8. He’ll likely catch passes from Bryce Young, who started to come on in a major way down the stretch last season.

Texas offensive tackle Kelvin Banks Jr., a member of the Gambo 5 of predicted possible picks for the Cardinals, went No. 9 to the New Orleans Saints.

The Chicago Bears then rounded out the top 10 by shocking many and taking Michigan tight end Colston Loveland, giving Caleb Williams another potential security blanket. Many expected Penn State’s Tyler Warren to be the first tight end off the board.

Mykel Williams of Georgia and Tyler Booker of Alabama, two more members of the Gambo 5, went 11-12 to the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys, respectively.

Michigan defensive tackle Kenneth Grant came off the board next to begin a five-pick stretch of four defensive linemen. Georgia’s Jalon Walker (Atlanta Falcons), Ole Miss’ Walter Nolen (Arizona Cardinals) and Texas A&M’s Shemar Stewart (Cincinnati Bengals) rounded out the run.

Warren was the lone pick in that run who wasn’t a defensive lineman, landing with the Indianapolis Colts.

The Seattle Seahawks took North Dakota State guard Grey Zabel at No. 18 before the Tampa Bay Buccaneers took Ohio State wide receiver Emeka Egbuka.

Then came two more defenders who were connected to Arizona in the pre-draft process, namely cornerback Jahdae Barron to the Denver Broncos at No. 20 and defensive tackle Derrick Harmon to the Pittsburgh Steelers at No. 21.

Omarion Hampton became the second running back off the board out of North Carolina at No. 22 to the Los Angeles Chargers.

Draft host city Green Bay then broke a 22-year streak of not taking a wide receiver in the first round by drafting Texas pass catcher Matthew Golden at No. 23.

Donovan Jackson out of Ohio State became the third offensive guard off the board at No. 24 to the Minnesota Vikings.

Then, a shocker came as the second quarterback off the board was Jaxson Dart instead of Shedeur Sanders, as the Ole Miss signal caller landed with the New York Giants. Sanders, who many expected to go in the top 10, had fallen outside the top 25.

Sanders would stay in the green room for the entire round as he was left unselected.

Each of the final seven first-round selections were defenders, except for two offensive tackles: Josh Conerly Jr. of Oregon landing with the Washington Commanders (No. 29) and Josh Simmons of Ohio State getting picked by the Kansas City Chiefs (No. 32).

No. 26 saw the Atlanta Falcons take Tennessee EDGE James Pearce Jr., Georgia safety Malaki Starks ended up with the Baltimore Ravens and Ohio State defensive tackle Tyleik Williams landed with the Detroit Lions.

The Buffalo Bills took Kentucky cornerback Maxwell Hairston at No. 30 off his 4.28-second 40-yard dash that was the best at the combine before Alabama linebacker Jihaad Campbell was taken by the Philadelphia Eagles at No. 31.

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